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Elite Identity and Political Accountability: A Tale of Ten Islands

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  • Jean-Paul Carvalho
  • Christian Dippel

Abstract

Emancipation of slaves in the 1830s transformed the political elites of the British Caribbean plantation islands. New elites were more accountable to the citizenry. We develop a theory in which two factors limit and possibly reverse the effect of this on political outcomes, with legislators: (i) ‘stepping up’ to pass extractive policies; and/or (ii) weakening democratic institutions. The theory is supported by an historical analysis of ten Caribbean plantation islands, based on original archival data on legislator race, occupation and roll-call voting. Eventually, all assemblies that experienced a significant change in composition dissolved themselves and converted to British ‘Crown Rule’.

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  • Jean-Paul Carvalho & Christian Dippel, 2020. "Elite Identity and Political Accountability: A Tale of Ten Islands," The Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 130(631), pages 1995-2029.
    • Handle: RePEc:oup:econjl:v:130:y:2020:i:631:p:1995-2029.
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    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1093/ej/ueaa018
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    Cited by:

    1. Yuki, Kazuhiro, 2023. "Social Identity, Redistribution, and Development," MPRA Paper 115965, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    2. Koyama, Mark & Desierto, Desiree, 2020. "The Political Economy of Status Competition: Sumptuary Laws in Preindustrial Europe," CEPR Discussion Papers 14407, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.

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